The Peterborough Timbermen are officially halfway through the 2023 Arena Lacrosse League regular season and their record stands at 0-7.
Saturday afternoon was another loss on home floor at Millbrook Arena. The expansion Brampton Express took the 20-11 win.
“We have nowhere to go but up,” said Timbermen head coach and general manager Joe Sullivan. “It’s not so much about 0-7. We’re a young team. We’re rebuilding. We’ve given a lot of guys under the age of 20 a great opportunity to play at a very high level of lacrosse. Can they compete at this level? Not yet, which is why we’re losing like we are. But there’s a ton of upside for our club. Bringing in guys like Jordan Trottier and Blaze White, that had a great injection of enthusiasm into our team.
“We had a practice on a Friday night; it was -31 in this rink and we had 21 guys running around trying to get ready for the game. I’m all in, they’re all in, and at the end of the day we’ll get better.”
Trottier and White each had great debuts for the Timbermen. Trottier played well at both ends of the floor in a transition role, picking up a goal, and White led the offence with four goals.
White’s first goal came just 1:16 into the game as he pushed the ball past Cole Martin. His second made it 2-0 a few minutes later as he scored from range. Former Timberman Mikael Chullen got Brampton on the board with his first of five goals in the game. Peterborough quickly responded with a pair of goals 27 seconds apart from Aaron Bradshaw and Bryce Dennis, but Brampton equaled those goals and the first quarter ended 4-3 for Peterborough.
“I wasn’t really sure what to expect but I thought the competition was really high quality and everyone was competing and having fun,” Trottier said. “I just want to improve as a teammate and individually, fine tune the little things.”
Trottier spent a year with the Jr. A Peterborough Lakers, and was drafted by the Colorado Mammoth in 2020. He played last season with the Panther City Lacrosse Club, appearing in 14 games. He played one game with the Rochester Knighthawks this season before being signed to the Georgia Swarm’s practice roster.
Owen Dale kicked off the second quarter by scoring his first ALL goal. White’s third goal came soon after – the team kept the ball for him after he joked he didn’t want the first one, he was waiting for that special hat-trick goal to keep as a souvenir.
Up 6-4, the Timbermen then ran into some face-off trouble as the Express managed to shockingly score four goals in 21 seconds, each time winning the face off and immediately heading to the net. Brampton tacked on three more for a 7-0 run before Todd Chapman finally got Peterborough back on the board with a transition goal at the end of the period.
But, Brampton picked up right where they left off to start the third, with another seven-goal run, putting Peterborough down 18-7. Trottier’s goal came with 13 seconds left in the quarter.
It was in the third that Peterborough began to push back when they believed Brampton was taking liberties. Kaleb Bingley took down an Express member after he got too close to Steven Walsh in the net. When the melee was over, it took two referees to wrestle Bingley down while Express guy had to pick up not only his jersey but his equipment as well after being completely undressed. Bingley received 17 minutes in penalties while Brampton went unpenalized.
Later, Parker Sands threw a punch at an Express player after he took a shot on net that was clearly after the whistle. Sands was then ejected after having some choice words for the referees. Not to be outdone, Bingley opened his mouth from the penalty box and was then tossed as well.
“It’s super important (to stick up for your teammates) because it lets the boys know you’re still willing to go to battle for them and you’ll still do anything for them,” Bingley said. “When you’re losing 19-8 it’s easy to get down on yourself but I enjoy being the guy that brings everybody back up and let everyone know I’ll do anything for them.”
Peterborough outscored Brampton in the fourth, with White picking up his fourth of the game. Riley Curtis found the back of the net for a goal to go with his four assists. Colton McNutt also scored.
Despite the loss, there was a moment of levity in the third quarter when the team realized a bird had snuck into the arena and was flying from end to end, following the path of the ball.
Chullen led Brampton with five goals.
The Timbermen’s next home game is Saturday, February 11 at 2 p.m. at Millbrook Arena vs the second place Toronto Monarchs. Tickets will be available at the door. To view the Timbermen’s full schedule, visit https://www.peterboroughtimbermen.com/schedule/.
